August 17th, 1971
Tuesday, August 17th, 1971Shunryū Suzuki-rōshi
Tuesday, August 17, 1971
Zen Mountain Center
Listen to this talk: Suzuki-roshi 71-08-17 Part 1
Listen to this talk: Suzuki-roshi 71-08-17 Part 2
In—in my lecture, sometime I say everyone has buddha-nature, and whatever you do, that is, you know, Buddha’s activity, I say. But on the other hand, I say you must follow the rule, and when you practice zazen you should practice in some certain way: Keep your spine straight, cross your legs, and pull your neck as if you are supporting something. And pull in your chin. There are many, you know, instructions.
So you will be confused when I say, you know—it looks like contradiction to say to rule—to put emphasis on rules and to follow our schedule. If it is—if whatever you do that is, you know, Buddha’s activity, then why we must have rule? This kind of, you know, question you may have.
The other—the other day, I said long bamboo is Buddha—long Buddha. Short bamboo is short Buddha [laughs]. And my statement discouraged [laughs] some sincere students, didn’t it? As if I am talking about something—as if I am encouraging some, you know, easy way. And—for an instance, you know the Sun-Faced Buddha and the Moon-Faced Buddha. When he is sick, he is Moon-Faced Buddha. When he is healthy he is the Sun-Faced Buddha. And when it is hot, we are hot—we should be hot Buddha. When it is cold, we should be cold Buddha. This kind of statement invite many misunderstanding.